Time always seemed to slow to a crawl whenever that boy was not home.
Ye Sizhen had been thinking that a lot lately.
Just being in this room made her feel especially at ease, but she still wanted to talk with him more.
If he did not mind, they could even talk a little about Eastern and Western Magecraft.
Maybe I could give "Shinji" some guidance and help him avoid a few detours on the path of Magecraft... hehe.
Why did she feel so strongly about it?
Was it because of the power she had recently gained?
Through an unexpected encounter and a series of coincidences, Ye Sizhen had surpassed modern Thought Magi.
She had already been an honor student at Spiral Manor. Precisely because of that, she could not help realizing that she had broken through her own ceiling.
That joy was something nothing else could replace.
Western Magicians aimed for The Root, while Thought Maguses aimed to improve the Thought Disk shared by all of them, the Pseudo-Root.
Now that she had grasped Magecraft from the Age of Gods, expanding a new Privileged Domain was not impossible...!
When that time comes, I should share my privileges with him too...
Would he be happy?
No, he is not that kind of person.
He did not help me because he wanted to gain something from me!
Ye Sizhen felt ashamed of her own thoughts and looked up at the blue cheongsam hanging on the wall.
It was the Mystic Code that had been stained with blood during battle.
After Shirou washed it clean, he had returned it to Ye Sizhen.
"Honestly... why didn't you tell me?"
Ye Sizhen had noticed. It had been washed by hand.
Shirou must have thought the garment was expensive, so he had not put it in the washing machine and had carefully washed it by hand instead.
That kind of gentle consideration was probably one of the reasons Ye Sizhen had fallen for Shirou.
"He is always taking care of me. I want to do something for him too..."
Ye Sizhen had been troubled by this for several days.
But what exactly could she do for Shirou?
Magecraft... no, that topic ends here!
Rather than some vulgar exchange of benefits, there had to be something else, something that would make that boy happier...
"!"
Ye Sizhen's eyes widened. She had an idea.
Cooking.
"Shinji" had once said that cooking was one of his personal hobbies.
Then, as thanks, I can teach him how to make Chinese food...
Ye Sizhen clutched her cheeks in frustration. That boy's Chinese food tastes far better than mine... ugh!
If Chinese food would not work, what about Chinese pastries?
That was an area "Shinji" had not touched yet, and it was a skill Ye Sizhen could just barely claim to be good at.
No sooner said than done.
Ye Sizhen began preparing the ingredients.
Holding an invisibility charm, she crossed the quiet courtyard and arrived at the kitchen of the Amamiya residence.
The maids living with "Shinji" seemed to have gone out, but Ye Sizhen did not want to cause him any trouble, so she decided to gather the ingredients and return to her own room to make them.
As expected of "Shinji's" kitchen, the ingredients were well stocked. Ye Sizhen gathered everything she needed for pastries, flour, white sugar, eggs, and so on, along with pastry tools she projected using Thought Magecraft.
Everything was ready.
Ye Sizhen began her attempt at making rose pastries.
By the time she finished, "Shinji" would probably be back, and then they could eat them together.
The Thought Magus thought this with a happy smile.
...
"Okay, here I come~ You're ready, aren't you, boy?"
Aoko Aozaki looked extremely casual on the surface, and even her relaxed stance seemed full of openings.
But only Shirou could tell that right now, she was fired up and flawless.
"Wait a second."
"What is it?"
"You're Aoko Aozaki, right? You accepted his commission?"
Shirou asked, and Aoko nodded.
Shirou said, "...If you want money, why not kill this Oil Baron, ask your sister to make a doll exactly like him, and then take over his family fortune?"
"What...!?"
Atrum's face turned deathly pale. Then he looked at Aoko Aozaki with a trace of fear.
The red-haired Magician held her chin and thought about it very seriously.
After about three seconds, she shook her head. "No, that won't work..."
Atrum sighed in relief, brushed the dust from his knees, and stood up.
Shirou asked, "Why not?"
Aoko replied, "Because my sister has blocked me. She made it very clear that she won't lend me any more money, and she won't make anything for me on credit again."
"Then there's nothing we can do."
"Right? Nothing we can do."
Shirou and Aoko smiled at each other.
It seemed Aoko was seriously planning to fight him.
Well, there had been several times in the past when Aoko had suggested that she and Shirou have an all-out battle to see who was stronger.
In the end, Alice either stopped her by intimidation, or Shirou brushed it off, and nothing came of it.
Now that she had finally found a chance, of course she was not going to let it go easily.
"I'll leave the two little girls who just ran off to you. Go catch them and bring them back."
Even though she was the one who had been hired, Aoko Aozaki was giving orders to Atrum.
Hearing this, Atrum frowned, his disgusted expression clearly saying, Why should I listen to your orders?
In the end, however, Atrum still left with a stiff face.
"What are you thinking?"
Shirou asked as he watched the dark-skinned young man walk away.
He did not stop Atrum from chasing after Ayako Mitsuzuri and Sakura Matou.
To outsiders, it might look as if he was too wary of Aoko to make a move, but in reality, he had refrained from doing anything unnecessary because he trusted her.
He trusted her, but he was still somewhat displeased.
"Don't be mad."
Aoko smiled brightly. "That little girl who ran away just now was Sakura Matou, right?
"Just like you said, she really does have considerable talent for Magecraft."
"If we are only talking about natural talent, she might be better than me... maybe even better than my sister."
"I can understand a little why Tohsaka sent her to the Matou family."
"With such an excellent bloodline, it really would be a waste if she could not become a Magus."
"Sakura isn't just talented. She works harder than anyone else too."
Shirou looked proud.
To Shirou, Sakura Matou was not only a younger sister he had known for nearly ten years, but also his underclassman in the school archery club and his disciple in Magecraft.
After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, Sakura Matou had been given two choices.
She could return to the Tohsaka Family and live an ordinary, happy life from then on.
Or she could stay with the Matou family, continue studying Magecraft, and eventually become the Magus who represented the Matou name.
Sakura Matou chose the latter without hesitation.
Shirou did not ask her reason. He respected her decision and arranged everything that followed.
Although Aoko had only heard about it from Shirou, she immediately understood Sakura Matou's motive.
It is because of you, you idiot...
She wanted to stay by Shirou-nii-san's side.
She wanted to help Shirou-nii-san.
That was why Sakura gave up returning to the protection of her mother and sister, and chose to continue using the name "Matou."
She had resolved to become a Magus for no other reason than wanting to catch up to Shirou-nii-san.
This was something only Aoko could understand.
A woman's heart, understood only by another woman.
Aoko greatly admired Sakura's courage and resolve, but…
"But you know, if things keep going like this, Sakura Matou will never become a Magus who can stand on her own."
"...What did you say?" Shirou frowned.
Aoko covered her mouth and giggled. "Because she is always being overprotected by her meddlesome Senpai."
"..."
Shirou admitted that he was indeed somewhat overprotective, but this woman's methods were far too extreme.
Aoko tilted her head. "Are they? When I was her age, I was already fighting a terrifying witch, you know? It'll be fine."
"No."
After thinking it over, Shirou decided he still could not let Sakura Matou face Atrum directly.
That man might look like some nouveau riche, but his strength was genuine. The current Sakura had no chance of winning.
Shirou turned to chase after Atrum, but just then, a Magic Bullet exploded against the ground at his feet.
"...Leaving your girlfriend behind to chase after another girl? Are you serious?"
"Looks like I'll have to beat you first."
"Try it, Shirou... Magic Bullets, deploy!"
Aoko Aozaki gave herself a short, sharp command.
The activation process of her Magecraft could not even be seen. With a single word, more than thirty Magic Bullets were unleashed.
The daytime sky looked as if a meteor shower had begun, with rocket-like projectiles falling toward Shirou.
Standing at the center of the storm of destruction, Shirou's expression did not change. He moved with remarkable precision, dodging not only the Magic Bullets themselves, but even the shards of debris kicked up when they exploded against the ground, all with footwork alone.
"Just asking... if we start fighting in the middle of the city, who pays for the damage?"
"No need to worry about that. Mr. Atrum has already said he'll cover all compensation."
"Is that so? Then I can relax."
In the next instant, the space behind Shirou rippled, and dozens of swords brimming with Mana appeared out of thin air.
"Oh~ No matter how many times I see it, your 'Projection' really is incredible, Shirou."
Aoko Aozaki licked her lips in excitement.
With a wave of her hand, a turbulent current of blue Ether formed beneath her feet.
In an instant, she created a number of Magic Bullets that far exceeded the previous scale, surpassing even the total she had produced back when she fought Touko Aozaki.
"..."
Aoko really has gotten stronger again, Shirou thought.
As she was now, she could probably participate in the Holy Grail War without any problem.
Aside from Gilgamesh, she should be capable of putting up a fight against any Servant.
Caster's Sea Demon... Aoko would probably be its natural enemy.
By contrast, Shirou no longer had Lady Avalon's magical enhancement, nor did he have the life-burning mode of the "Dead Count Shapeshifter Command Spell."
If the combat power of Aoko Aozaki, the Fifth Magician, was "Servant-class," then Shirou would probably only count as "Master-class"...
Of course not.
Shirou had not been standing still in the past.
His body was growing rapidly too.
He was also steadily reclaiming his former power.
Although he was still far from his prime, after returning to Proper Human History, he had also gained all kinds of new techniques.
The boy felt that his current self might not necessarily lose to Shirou Amamiya from the Fourth Holy Grail War.
I might as well use Aoko to test it...
To see just how far I've grown.
Shirou raised his arm.
Then he and Aoko unleashed their maximum firepower at the same time.
The sound of metal bursting apart echoed through the street as violent winds howled.
The two stood facing each other, and the space above them blazed with a dazzling spectacle like a big-budget science-fiction film.
Both sides tacitly kept the damage to a minimum. Aside from the raging Ether turbulence, not a single building nearby was damaged.
Is it an even firepower contest?
No, Aoko has an overwhelming advantage in speed... At this rate, I'll lose.
Aoko Aozaki. In terms of Mana rotation speed and output speed, she could be called the strongest in history.
No matter how far Shirou refined his "Projection Magecraft," he could never fire faster than her Magic Bullets.
If he wanted to truly contend with Aoko, he had no choice but to use "Unlimited Blade Works."
In other words, he would have to skip the "Projection" casting process entirely and engage her in a barrage at godlike speed.
Or switch to close combat?
Aoko was different from ordinary Magi, who tended to give the impression that they were weak up close. She could even be called the strongest Magician in close combat.
By combining modern martial arts with the nature of her own Mana, Aoko had created an entirely new combat style and remained undefeated across every era.
Shirou judged that even if he switched to close combat, he probably would not gain any advantage against her.
If he grew a little more, he might be able to beat her in another couple of years, but right now, he really had no confidence.
However.
"Martial arts" had never been limited to close combat alone.
"It's still not too late to beg for mercy, Aoko..."
Hearing Shirou say that, the red-haired Magician curled her lips in disdain.
"I'll say that right back at you. You'd better surrender already, Shirou... hm!?"
Aoko Aozaki's composed smile vanished.
She saw the distinctive glow of Projection Magecraft begin gathering in the palm of the boy's left hand, eventually taking the form of a massive black bow.
And in Shirou's left hand, he held an "arrow" wreathed in eerie flames.
"Wait... isn't this a little unfair...?"
Aoko stared blankly at the thing Shirou had nocked to the bowstring.
That was not an arrow at all. It was something else.
Its shape resembled a sword, but it was something entirely different...
It gave off an aura that did not belong to this world. The "Black Dog Galatine."
Its true nature was the fiercely burning antennae of an A-Ray.
"This shot will decide it."
Shirou murmured as he drew the bow to its limit.
"Here it comes, Aoko... Don't you dare die on me."
"...Tch!"
Aoko Aozaki focused every nerve and nervously deployed her spell in front of her.
Against an attack like that, creating more Magic Bullets would be meaningless. Numbers no longer mattered.
The storm generated when the arrow was released would probably be enough to blow her entire barrage away.
If she wanted to oppose it, she had no choice but to charge up her strongest shot.
"Magic Bullet Form."
Aoko Aozaki finished charging her light cannon at unprecedented speed.
"Convergence Projection!"
Compared to kyudo, which pursued the martial concept of stillness, the Magician clearly held an absolute advantage in speed.
However…
"Speed alone doesn't mean anything..."
As Shirou said that, he released the bowstring from his fingers.
"Trigger Galatine."
The instant the arrow left his hand, the aura of another world, the Fairy Kingdom, devoured all Mana in the surrounding area.
It was an infernal blaze powerful enough to burn an island, even a world, to ashes. The arrow's force was like a massive black hound of calamity.
The "demonic nature" of the beast of calamity and Shirou Amamiya's "martial arts" combined into his strongest strike.
The ultimate Magic Bullet fired by the Magician was swallowed whole by the Black Dog, without even a trace of light remaining.
The street fell quiet again.
Shirou found Aoko Aozaki on the storm-torn roadside.
She was sitting on the ground with her back against a wall. Her vitals had not been hit, but she was still injured.
The worst injury was to her right arm, the one that had fired the Magic Cannon. She would not be able to lift it for a while.
"Oh dear, you ended up just like Touko back then."
Shirou crouched beside Aoko and gently lifted her right arm, casting healing Magecraft.
"You sisters really are the same kind of idiot. Was there any need to go this far? And what are you suddenly trying to get money for?"
"Shut up. I have something I need the money for... Anyway, aren't you going after Sakura Matou?"
Sakura... right. She should be fine, probably. She's been receiving my Magecraft instruction since three years ago, after all.
Just as Aoko had said, he really ought to trust her more.
Thinking that, Shirou said,
"I'm not going. How could I leave my woman behind?"
"Ugh!"
Aoko Aozaki turned her slightly heated face away.
"...won't lose."
Shirou blinked. "What did you say?"
"T-tonight, I won't lose!"
Aoko Aozaki shouted, her face bright red. "I'm absolutely going to make you beg for mercy, so prepare yourself!!"